By Gary Watton
February 4 2015

More than a thousand years since their ancestors used to venture hither and thither and wreak havoc upon the local populace, the England Saxons returned to record a successful, but mercifully brief, rugby invasion of southern Ireland. Cork was the venue as the Irish Wolfhounds suffered a defeat against their English adversaries. The result was a reverse of twelve months ago when the Wolfhounds won at Kingsholm, Gloucester. Back in 2014 the senior side then lost at Twickenham. Let us hope that the reversal is in store in 2015, namely triumphs for both the England Saxons and the Irish national team against the England senior team.

Although the visitors won fair and square, their victory margin was flattered by a very late converted try which tends to exaggerate their dominance.

From an Irish perspective, it was good to provide game time to some Ireland hopefuls, including the returning Sean O'Brien. The latter may need a few more matches under his belt, but the Oirish will hope that the big flanker is back in fine fettle for the visit of our lovely neighbours from England on Sunday March the first.

At the time of writing, Ireland and England are both co-favourites for the Six Nations Championship. The favourites' tag traditionally has weighed heavily upon the men in green, but Joe Schmidt can be relied upon to keep his troops' feet on the ground and to bring out the best in his team. For both the aforementioned fancied teams, they each have to negotiate the small matter of a visit to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and cope with a visit from the unpredictable French. Victories in these skirmishes will go a long way towards establishing whether the pre-tournament optimism was justified. Bring it on.

RESULT: IRISH WOLFHOUNDS 9 England Saxons 18